Solar Quote Follow-Up in Nigeria

You sized the system properly. You sent a clean quote on WhatsApp. The customer said “okay, let me get back to you.” That was eleven days ago.

This is where most Nigerian solar revenue is lost, and it is lost in silence. Not to a competitor with a better price. To nothing. The customer was waiting for salary, or for the dollar to settle, or for his brother-in-law to stop saying lithium is a scam, and in those eleven days nobody from your company said a word. So when the money arrived, he messaged the company whose flyer he saw that morning.

Why a solar decision takes two weeks

A 5kVA hybrid with lithium is a serious purchase for a Nigerian household. Somewhere between a used car and a year’s rent. The customer is doing four things at once:

• Comparing two or three quotes that all look different because everyone sizes differently.
• Waiting for the money, in full or for the deposit.
• Watching the dollar, because he knows the price moves.
• Asking around, and somebody always has a story about a battery that died in a year.

Your quote is sitting inside all of that. Follow-up is how it stays on top.

The sequence that works

Each touch gives something. None of them just asks “have you decided?”

Day 2: the check-in with a reason. “Did the quote open properly? One thing I should have explained: the 5kVA sizing assumes your freezer and one AC unit run at the same time. If that changes, the size changes.” You are correcting a possible misunderstanding, not chasing.

Day 5: the battery conversation. The question they are afraid to ask. Lithium versus lead-acid, honest lifespans, what the replacement costs in year three versus year twelve. This is the touch that answers the brother-in-law.

Day 9: the money. The financing or instalment option, plainly. Deposit, tenor, monthly amount. Most quiet quotes are quiet because the customer assumed it was all upfront.

Day 14: proof, then a door left open. A customer like them, what they installed, what their bill looks like now. Then: “No pressure from my side. When the generator gives you a reason, this quote is here, and I will re-price it to that day’s rate.”

Then stop, unless they reply. A customer who comes back in month four is common in solar. The sequence should have made that easy, not awkward.

The three objections, answered before they are raised

“It is too much.” Usually means “not this month”. The answer is the instalment plan, not a discount. A discount on a dollar-priced product is your margin leaving the building.

“Will it carry my AC?” The load conversation, in plain language, with the sizing assumption stated. If the honest answer is “not two ACs and the pumping machine at once”, say so. The customer who was told the truth refers you. The one who was told yes and found out in April does not.

“Let me think about it.” Give them something to think with: the battery comparison, the customer story. Then set the cut-off honestly: “This price holds for ten days because the panels are in dollars.”

The re-pricing rule

Every quote needs a date. Every company needs a cut-off. A quote accepted after the cut-off is re-priced at that day’s rate, with one honest sentence. This is not a sales tactic. It is the difference between a solar company that is still here in three years and one that honoured stale quotes until the margin was gone.

Residential versus commercial

A homeowner takes two weeks and decides on price and load. A factory, a school or an estate takes six to twelve weeks and decides on a site assessment, a formal proposal, references and a procurement signature. The same sequence applied to both annoys the facility manager and loses the homeowner. Two pipelines, two rhythms.

How GrowUp Business does it

Every quote goes out with its date. The follow-up sequence runs automatically from day two, in your words, and stops the moment the customer replies. A quote older than your cut-off is flagged before anyone confirms it. The deposit link goes out the moment they say yes, in Naira, and the install slot books only when it is paid. Residential and commercial run in separate pipelines with their own timing. Every quote, reply and document belongs to the company, not to the salesperson’s phone.

If the leak in your company is the instalments after the deposit, that is the financing page. For the whole journey from enquiry to the last instalment, read the solar software page.

Common questions

Why do solar quotes in Nigeria go quiet?

Rarely because the customer chose someone else on price. Usually because the decision is large, the money is not all there yet, the brother-in-law said lithium is a scam, and nobody from your side said anything after the PDF. Silence on your side reads as 'they do not need my business'. The company that stays present, without pestering, gets the call when the money arrives.

How many times should I follow up on a solar quote?

Four to six touches over about two weeks for residential, longer and lighter for commercial. Each one should give something, not just ask. The load explanation. The battery comparison. The financing option. A customer's result. Then a polite close-out that leaves the door open, because solar customers often come back months later when the generator dies.

What are the three objections that always come?

Price, usually as 'it is too much' when they mean 'not this month'. Trust, as 'will it carry my AC' or 'how long will the battery last'. And timing, as 'let me think about it'. Each has an honest answer, and each answer belongs in the follow-up sequence before the customer has to ask.

When should I re-price a quote?

Set a cut-off, say ten days, because your panels are priced in dollars and your quote is in Naira. A customer who accepts after the cut-off gets a fresh price and an honest sentence about why. Customers understand the exchange rate. What they do not forgive is a company that honours a stale price and then cuts corners on the install to survive it.

Should the follow-up be automatic or personal?

Both. The scheduled touches run automatically so nothing is missed while the engineer is on a roof. The moment the customer replies, the sequence stops and a person takes over with the full history in front of them. Automatic gets you present. Personal closes.

What about the customer who says yes and then disappears?

A yes without a deposit is a maybe. The deposit link goes out the moment they say yes, in Naira, and the install slot is only booked when it is paid. If the link sits unpaid, the follow-up continues. It is not pressure. It is clarity, and it protects your install calendar.